


How Arthur finds out

by AmyHook



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Magic Revealed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-21
Packaged: 2018-05-02 15:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5253044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmyHook/pseuds/AmyHook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How could a giant stride right up to Camelot without any reports or even rumors getting to the kings ears first? Arthur suspected sorcery. This was probably one of Morgana's plans to bring Arthur down. She had likely gone to the mountains in the west and convinced or even bewitched a giant to marsh on Camelot, and hidden it from sight until it reached the town.</p><p>All this runs through Arthur's head when he sprints atop the town walls to the spot where the giant had been sighted. He had ordered his best bowmen to grab their gear and another handful of knights to bring pikes. The both groups were now running right behind him on the walkway. The knights and his persistent manservant of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Arthur finds out

**Author's Note:**

> More tags might be added later on, don't really know where this fic is going jet. Hope you guys enjoy the first chapter :)

The warning had come too late. There was no time to prepare a defense or send out the knights. How could a giant stride right up to Camelot without any reports or even rumors getting to the kings ears first? Arthur suspected sorcery. This was probably one of Morgana's plans to bring Arthur down. She had likely gone to the mountains in the west and convinced or even bewitched a giant to march on Camelot, and hidden it from sight until it reached the town.

 

All this runs through Arthur's head when he sprints atop the town walls to the spot where the giant had been sighted. He had ordered his best bowmen to grab their gear and another handful of knights to bring pikes. The both groups were now running right behind him on the walkway. The knights and his persistent manservant of course. Arthur had tried to order Merlin to stay at the citadel, but like all the other times, Merlin had ignored him. Arthur had had no time to insist, so now he would just have to find a way to keep his servant, his best friend, alive. If he were being honest with himself, he would admit that he had always liked having Merlin by his side. It was comforting to know that he constantly had someone that he trusted completely, even if Merlin was utterly useless in a fight.

 

Apart from the men following their king on the wall, Arthur had also instructed some of the knights to mount up and attack the giant on horseback. He would have liked to have gone with the horsemen, but the beasts had not been saddled and the giant would reach the town walls before the knights could ride out. Arthur felt, as always, that he would have to be where the battle was thickest and in this case it was standing on the wall trying to keep the giant from breaking through and hurting his people.

 

Arthur surveys the forest for any sight of the threat. First he cannot spot the giant, but when he does he almost halts in shock. The forest around Camelot is old and its trees stand at more than 30 feet tall but the giant head is still visible far above the treetops. The walls of Camelot would only be at its chest and would not stand for more than a few seconds if Arthur and his men did not stop it. 

 

Arthur orders his men to take their positions in the giant’s line of attack, even if he has the feeling that their puny weapons would probably not even slow it down, but they have to try. For the sake of all the citizens in the town, all his citizens, they have to try to stop it or at least to slow it down so that the people have time to escape. 

 

When the giant is within range of the arrows, Arthur shouts to his bowmen to shoot. A rain of arrows falls onto the giant and bounces away without doing any harm. ‘Giants must have really thick skin’ Arthur contemplates in the back of his mind while he is trying feverishly to come up with another plan. He orders the pikemen into position, but he fears the pikes will have as much effect as the arrows.

 

The giant is only a couple of yards away from the wall now and Arthur can see that it has uprooted a tree to use as a club. That realization came just as the giant starts to lift the tree over its head to have it come down right upon Arthur and all his men.

 

Arthur does not know what to do. He gazes up at the giant and knows in that instant that he is going to die. The tree, that still has its branches attached, is coming down on him and his surrounding men in record speed and there is nothing he can do to save himself or his trusted knights. He cannot even fling himself away from harm’s way because there is no time to get clear of all the branches. 

 

He raises his sword in a futile attempt to cut though the oncoming tree, when he hears a voice over the screams of men and the roar of the giant. The voice is shouting in a language that Arthur cannot understand and in that second the tree blows up in the giant’s hands. Splinters begin to slowly and harmlessly drop around the men on the wall, like the first snowfall of the season. The giant looks at its hand in confusion, like it cannot understand why it is not holding a weapon anymore. Arthur cannot understand why the giant is not holding a weapon anymore. Was that magic? Had someone used magic to save Arthur and his men?

 

Before Arthur has a chance to even sort out all the questions in his head, he hears that voice again. It is still shouting in an unfamiliar language, but this time Arthur recognizes the voice. He does not want to believe his own intuition, but he has to know. Without really knowing what his body is doing, he starts turning towards that sound, towards his best friend, towards the end of Arthur's world. 

 

There Merlin stands, tall and confident, relaying syllables that Arthur does not understand but apparently the giant does. It listens to what Merlin says - the sorcerer says - nods and starts striding back the way it came. 

 

Every man on the wall stands as frozen for several minutes, eyes following the giant until it is out of sight. Then, as if they had practices the move, they all turned in unison towards Merlin. The air seems to go out of the sorcerer when he turns to face Arthur. 

 

"Well, you can arrest me now if you want, sire". Merlin's words seem to be a joke, but his eyes conveys more feelings then Arthur can read. He sees regret, sadness and even relief maybe, but also so much more, in those blue depths that he has seen so often and now feels as if they belong to a stranger. 

 

Arthur feels like someone has punched him in the stomach. Then trampled him with a horse. Then roasted him with dragon fire. How could Merlin be a sorcerer? How could his best friend have magic? How could he have magic and never tell Arthur about it? 

 

Arthur cannot think about what he should do, so he just follows what Merlin had told him to do – like he usually does.

 

"Knights, arrest the sorcerer! Arrest Merlin!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic ever, so please be nice.  
> I would like some tips if you have them though and please tell me of spelling and grammar mistakes, that would be so helpful! 
> 
> I will try to write another chapter as soon as I can!


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